A tremolo arm or tremolo bar (also called a “whammy bar” or “wang bar”) is a lever attached to the bridge and/or the tailpiece of an electric guitar or archtop guitar to enable the player to quickly vary the tension and sometimes the length of the strings temporarily, changing the pitch to create a vibrato, portamento or pitch bend effect. The tremolo arm acts as a lever that the player can push or pull to change the strings tension. Typically, conventional tremolo arms are formed from a length of metal rod, which is bent to the desired shape. Tremolo bars are mount to the guitar's bridge assembly to rotate toward and away from the instrument strings.
Conventional tremolo bars have several drawbacks. During performance, the tremolo bars hang from the bridge swung away from the strings until the musician physically swings the bar upward into position close to the strings where it can be pulled or pushed to create the desired effect. Having to reach for the hanging tremolo bar to swing it into position for use is inconvenient for the musician. In addition, the metal rod of conventional tremolo bars flexes during aggressive performance, which result is less control of the sound of the instrument.
The tremolo device embodying the present invention transfers more force to the bridge for greater sound control and is always available to the musician without interfering with the playing of the instrument. The tremolo device of this invention includes a flat hand plate and a short mounting post welded perpendicularly to bottom of the hand plate. The hand plate is configured and bent to form a curved eminence and depression along one side, which provides additional structural integrity and rigidity to the tremolo device. The mounting post is adapted to rotatably connect to the bridge assembly of a stringed instrument. The mounting post elevates the hand plate over the bridge assembly and instrument strings. The musician can rest the palm of the picking hand on the top of the hand plate, which positions the fingers conveniently over the instrument's strings. The musician can push or pull on the hand plate to apply force to the bridge and change the tension of instrument's strings.
The tremolo device of this invention eliminates the problem of tremolo bars hanging out of the reach of the musician's picking hand. The tremolo device is always readily accessible from the pick hand's natural playing posture. While always readily available to the musician, this tremolo device is located where it does not interfere with the normal playing of the instrument. Moreover, the tremolo device offers the musician a better playing posture by allowing the pick hand to rest atop the hand plate. The tremolo device of this invention is also more rigid than a conventional tremolo bar, which affords the musician greater control over the sound of the instrument. Because the mounting post is relatively short and securely welded to the hand plate, the musician can transfer more force through this tremolo device to the tremolo bridge.
These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.